Building on the success of our 2022 Festival Hub and with support from BBC Studios Natural History Unit, our 2-day Nairobi Festival, celebrated one of the most actively filmed parts of our natural world.
Bringing talent and storytellers from across the globe, to the heart of wildlife film.
“It really has felt like a significant moment for African wildlife storytelling. In a sense, it’s like a seismic shift, and things are now rumbling; the energy is there, and it’s now for us to take that energy and run with it and put it to good use. We have creative thinking; how can we get our films funded? What kind of platforms can we put them on? Let’s think outside of the box, let’s look at small-scale films because we’re all working for one goal, and if we can all do it together, then we’ll really make that difference.” – Festival Host, Jahawi Bertolli
Over 200 festival attendees, including emerging talent, bursary recipients and industry figureheads.
From 12 countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, UK, US, Botswana, France, Zambia, India, South Africa, Rwanda, Spain and Sierra Lione.
54 Mentees matched and introduced to a mentor through our mentorship programme.
Only 4% of Wildscreen Festival delegates were from African Countries.
Over 25% of our 2022 Film Award submissions, feature African Wildlife.
Yet only 7% are made in Africa.
The Wildscreen Festival Nairobi Programme focused on 4 key elements:
Storytelling, Developing Techniques, Cinematography, Post-Production & Editing
Networking, Collaborating, Co-Productions, Commissioning, Demystifying Distribution
Talent, EDI, Indigenous Communities
Conservation, Biodiversity, Climate Change
1st Place – Anthony Onyango and Fedelis Kyalo – Matata and Friends on Safari
2nd Place – $6,000 – Jigar Ganatra – Between Two Worlds
3rd Place – $3,000 – Trishala Naidu and Devin Trull – Buoyant: A Turtle Tale
A huge congratulations to all our winners and to everyone who pitched!
A special thank you to our judges Janet Han Vissering, Jonny Keeling, Sreya Biswas, Loise Makato and to our moderator Pauline Kyalo.
Wild Pitch is kindly made possible by National Geographic.
Our festival was curated by representatives from the global natural history film and TV industry, conservation organisations and African wildlife storytellers.
Asif Choudhury
Deputy Permanent Representative to UNEP and UN Habitat – British High Commission, Nairobi
Caroline Cox
Production Executive – BBC Studios Natural History Unit
Chloe Sarosh
Executive Producer – Wildstar Films Ltd
Fiona Tande
Founder, Director – Pridelands Wildlife Film Festival
Janet Han Vissering
SVP, Development & Production – National Geographic Channel
Jeff Wilson
Director – Silverback Films
Nashipae Orumoy
Director, Strategic Communications and Marketing – Africa Wildlife Foundation
Michael Masheti
Production and Liaison Officer – Kenya Film Commission
Dr Paula Kahumbu
CEO – WildlifeDirect
Pauline Kyalo
Assistant Film Producer – WildlifeDirect
Richard Madeley
Head of Sustainability – VI Rental
Sreya Biswas
Head of Natural History, BBC Commissioning – BBC
As a Wildscreen Festival Nairobi volunteer, you’ll gain hands-on event experience, develop news skills and meet people working in natural world storytelling.
As a thank you for volunteering, you will receive:
We would love to hear from you! Alongside our fantastic Festival Advisory Board, we are welcoming suggestions from our creative audience for content that you would like to see and experience at our festival.
Please complete this short form here to share your programme content ideas!
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